Riders (Riders, #1)(71)

Alevar had the night wings and could fly. We had to assume he was soaring around, looking for us. Samrael could see into our minds. Any plans we made were subject to being brain-hacked if he got close enough. He could also pull knifelike bone shards from his arm. I didn’t know what Ronwae could do, but the way she shimmered worried me, like maybe she was having a hard time holding on to her human form. The female with the dreadlocks was another question mark, but there’d been something werewolfish about the way she’d prowled—and howled. Malaphar had the ability to shift form and mimic others. Pyro was the insane, fire-throwing skater dude. And Ra’om. He was in a category of his own. I’d only seen him in my mind, but I had no doubt he was real.

As I spoke, Jode stopped pacing and sat down to listen. It hit me that we were finally together, the five of us. With Bas, Jode, and Marcus there, I felt like I was getting a full chord now from the cuff—a complete signal—but it was more than that. It was a feeling of accomplishment for having successfully mustered up.

When I was done, Jode pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “So we’re not the only ones who have these abilities, then?”

Bastian broke into a grin. “Tell Gideon what yours is.”

Jode’s gaze landed on him. “I don’t think it’s relevant to the discussion.”

“What is it?” I looked at Marcus, but that wasn’t going to get me anywhere. He was slumped in a wingback chair, hiding under the hood of his sweatshirt like we weren’t worth his time. “What’s his power, Bas?”

“He makes people want stuff.”

“It’s not stuff,” Jode said. “As far as I can tell, I enhance will. Determination. Whatever a person’s foremost desire is.”

“Wait. Your power is enhancing desire?”

Why-oh-why wasn’t that my power?

“Yeah, and get this,” Bas said. “For me and Marcus it was the desire to eat. We emptied the minibar half an hour ago. Marcus almost tore the door off trying to get it open.”

“Wait. You used your power on them?” I asked.

The red in Jode’s cheeks went deeper. “It was unintentional.”

“He’s still figuring out how to control it,” Daryn said.

“The only thing that’s helped is getting plastered.”

“That’s why he’d been drinking last night,” Daryn explained. “I had Sebastian give him a bump of fatigue, which seems to be a good substitute.”

“It was a good idea,” Jode said.

I looked from him to her and back again. Why did I suddenly feel like I wanted to hit something?

“What’s our next move, Martin?” I asked. “Do we know where we need to go? Because that would really help. Instead of running around with the key, it’d be great if we could just put it somewhere safe. Can we do that? Or is that another thing we don’t know? Probably, right? Otherwise this would be too easy. You know, sometimes it actually feels like you’re working for the Kindred? I’m almost tempted to ask you to prove you’re not Malaphar.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Blake. What the hell was that?

I broke it down. Tired. No sleep. Rejected. Yes to all, but this was something else. It was that residue of darkness from Ra’om. I couldn’t shake it off. It was beating me down. Now I’d crossed a line and everyone else thought so, too.

Tension filled the room. More than tension. The room filled with the anger that poured off me.

Marcus sat up and stared at me. Intense. Ready to pounce.

I had to make a smart next move, or I knew we’d end up brawling again.

Balcony. Balcony for some air.

“Actually,” Daryn said. “I’m glad you said something.”

“You’re … glad?” I settled back onto the cushions.

“Yes,” she said. “Malaphar is how this got started. Like you said, he can cloak himself in a person’s voice and image. That was how the Kindred almost took the key the first time.”

She paused, looking at each of us. Traffic from the city streets roared softly in the distance, filtering in from the balcony. I could feel her calm settling over us. Telling us to listen up. Big stuff was coming.

“The key has always been in the protection of one of the archangels. It was in Michael’s possession until recently, when he alighted on a cliff in a place called Lagos in Portugal. A very old Seeker who lived there was close to dying, and being welcomed to the afterlife by an archangel is a privilege we’re given for our service. The Kindred saw an opportunity.

“I know that Samrael couldn’t have looked into the Seeker’s mind and foreseen this meeting taking place. It’s a way that we’re stronger than them. But he must have had one of his Kindred follow the Seeker, waiting for the right moment. When Michael appeared on the cliffs, several of the Kindred were hidden close by—and one in particular was very close. I’m sure you’ve already figured out that the old man who met Michael wasn’t actually the Seeker. It was Malaphar, in the Seeker’s form.

“The archangel recognized the deception, but it was too late. A struggle resulted between them. In the struggle, Malaphar pried the key from Michael’s hands. It fell and struck the rocks of the cliff, tumbling away. Then it disappeared. Michael freed himself from Malaphar’s grip, but the rest of the Kindred were coming. The key was safe for the moment. Well hidden. The Kindred wouldn’t find it in the rocks below, so Michael fled. When the time was right, he would send someone to collect the key. And that someone…” Daryn’s smile was somehow modest and proud at the same time. “That someone is me.”